No. I didn't watch anything either. On my previous screenplays, I would go rent a ton of movies that were kind of similar to what I thought each movie was gonna be. . . . Specifically, I didn't want to rent episodes of "West Wing," I didn't want to watch other political films. I thought if I did that, then the script would end up sounding like a wannabe, inferior Aaron Sorkin script.
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Are you in some alternate Hollywood?
I know, I'm so in an alternate Hollywood on this project that I'm just enjoying the ride. And my next script I'm just gonna try to learn the lesson, and just try and do stuff I love, you know. I'm working on a really wonderful project right now that I love.
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Is it a Jim Carrey comedy?
No, it's about a mermaid that becomes a poker player. Actually, it's the story of Brown v. the Board of Education. I'm doing it for Universal. Gary Ross is gonna direct, and Tobey Maguire is attached.
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How did you enjoy the White House correspondents' dinner?
I sat next to [longtime Washington Post executive editor] Ben Bradlee. I live in L.A. -- I don't live in New York, I don't live in D.C. These political people that I watch on TV almost every day are not part of my daily existence at all, so I was star-struck. Henry Kissinger and Newt Gingrich and Colin Powell!
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Did you get a sense of just how thick that scene is?
Yeah. They were all right there. They all talk and they live in each other's world. . . . You read about them and you witness it from the news, and you think that they're all mortal enemies -- but in fact, they're all eating dinner.
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Isn't L.A. a little bit like that too, though? You could say that about David Geffen and whomever, right?
You know, I'm not in those circles, so I wouldn't really know.
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But you were on "Buffy"!
I was on "Buffy." It still doesn't get me into restaurants. And I still use it to this day.
